This invention relates to an image transfer medium and is particularly related to a composition of matter in the form of a viscous or semi-viscous fluid for such purpose.
Putty-like substances have been widely marketed by the toy industries for approximately 25 years. Due to their elasticity non-toxicity and other desirable attributes, these silicone substances, which are commonly referred to "silly-putty" or "bouncing putty" are used largely by children to bounce it, stretch it, form it into various shapes and press it against printed matter to transfer the print (e.g., cartoons and other pictorial illustrations) onto the surface of the putty. Examples of such putty-like substances are describedin U.S. Pat. No. 3,350,344 issued to Melvin D. Beers on Oct. 31, 1967 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,661,790 issued to Dean et al on May 9, 1972. In addition to their bouncing ability, some bouncing putties also exhibit the ability to glow in the dark after exposure to a light source.
While the presently marketed bouncing putty can be used to transfer images and prints onto its surface when pressed against the printed matter, these images cannot be transferred to another sheet or surface since the silicone putty does not release the ink from its surface.
It has now been found that such image transfer may be facilitated by first spreading and rubbing onto a transfer sheet or surface, a fluid media having the composition hereinafter described and then pressing the putty thereon with its imaged surface firmly pressed against the transfer sheet or surface. One such composition is disclosed in copending application Ser. No. 071310, filed Aug. 30, 1979. The present invention constitutes further improvement in such compositions.
It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a fluid medium for transferring prints and images from one surface to another by using bouncing putties.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel composition of matter in the form of a viscous or semi-viscous fluid which, when rubbed onto a surface such as the human skin or onto a sheet of paper, permits images imprinted on silicone putty to be transferred on such sheets or surfaces.
It is also an object of this invention to provide such image transfer fluid medium which is non-toxic, non-irritating and free from adverse or harmful effects for use by children with silly putties for the aforementioned purposes.